Hostd agent stops running after changes to proxy.xml file in VMware ESXi 5.0

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• hostd service stops running
• The hostd.log at /var/log/ may contain entries similar to:
  
  2013-08-03T00:04:49.377Z [FFB09A90 info 'Proxysvc'] vmacore/ssl/serializeServerHandshake: false
  2013-08-03T00:04:49.377Z [FFB09A90 info 'Proxysvc'] Proxy: Starting new Proxy service
  2013-08-03T00:04:49.377Z [FFB09A90 info 'Proxysvc'] Proxy Https service started
  2013-08-03T00:04:49.377Z [FFB09A90 info 'Proxysvc'] Max proxy connections currently set to 128 , buffer size: 33000 bytes
  2013-08-03T00:04:49.377Z [FFB09A90 info 'Proxysvc'] Proxy: Starting new Proxy service
  2013-08-03T00:04:49.377Z [FFB09A90 info 'Proxysvc'] Proxy Http service started
  2013-08-03T00:04:49.378Z [FFB09A90 info 'Proxysvc'] Invalid Access Mode specified in Endpoint Spec: httpsAndHttps
  *** In-memory logs end ***
  error: N5Vmomi5Fault15InvalidArgument9ExceptionE(vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument)
  
  backtrace:
  [00] rip 1093d163
  [01] rip 1079691e
  [02] rip 1072bb12
  [03] rip 0344a5b5
  [04] rip 0344aae1
  [05] rip 0344ae28
  [06] rip 034457c5
  [07] rip 1074a42e
  [08] rip 10749734
  [09] rip 0394da5a
  [10] rip 0394364d
  [11] rip 039531c5
  [12] rip 12443efc
  [13] rip 02bd7781

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0

Cause

This issue is caused by changes made to the /etc/vmware/hostd/proxy.xml file.

For example:

<e id="4">

<_type>vim.ProxyService.NamedPipeServiceSpec</_type>

<accessMode>httpsAndHttps</accessMode>

<pipeName>/var/run/vmware/proxy-sdk</pipeName>

<serverNamespace>/sdk</serverNamespace>

</e>

Resolution

If the /etc/vmware/hostd/proxy.xml file is changed in Section 4, then it needs to be modified back to original configuration as follows:

1. Open an SSH/PuTTY session to the host.
2. Open the file /etc/vmware/hostd/proxy.xml file using a plain text editor.
3. Ensure Section 4 displays exactly as follows:
   
   
   <_type>vim.ProxyService.NamedPipeServiceSpec</_type>

   <accessMode>httpsWithRedirect</accessMode>

   <pipeName>/var/run/vmware/proxy-mob</pipeName>

   <serverNamespace>/mob</serverNamespace>

   </e>
   
   
4. Save the file.
   
5. Restart the Management Agents.
   

Additional Information

accessmode is the forms of communication the service permits. Acceptable values include: ■ httpOnly – The service is accessible only over plain-text HTTP connections. ■ httpsOnly – The service is accessible only over HTTPS connections. ■ httpsWithRedirect – The service is accessible only over HTTPS connections. Requests over HTTP are redirected to the appropriate HTTPS URL. ■ httpAndHttps – The service is accessible both over HTTP and HTTPS connections.